Verbatim’s New Family of 2.5” SmartDisk Portable Hard Drives Makes Its Debut at CES

Sleek Windows and Mac-compatible HDs Deliver High-capacity, Bus-powered Storage

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leveraging the resources gained with the purchase of SmartDisk® Corporation’s external hard drive (HD) assets in July 2007, Verbatim® Americas, LLC launched today a whole new line of SmartDisk 2.5” Portable Hard Drives (HDs). With the new elegantly designed HDs, consumers and businesses can immediately add 120, 160, 250, or 320GB of removable capacity without having to open their computer. The palm-sized external drives will be available for both Windows® and Mac® users later this month with retail prices starting at US $99.00.

“Part of Verbatim’s corporate strategy is to capitalize on this trend with an expanded line of external HD products that meet the diverse storage needs of consumers and businesses around the globe”

The need for a fast, easy way to store, backup, share and transport data and multimedia files is fueling explosive growth in the worldwide removable storage industry. A growing number of consumers are using external hard drives to gain the additional storage they need for their photo, music and video files. Office workers are using the compact drives to transport work to their home systems and branch offices. As a result, IDC predicts more than 6 million external hard drives will be shipped in 2008, up 58 percent from the 3.8 million units shipped in 2006.

“Part of Verbatim’s corporate strategy is to capitalize on this trend with an expanded line of external HD products that meet the diverse storage needs of consumers and businesses around the globe,” said Charles Klinker, Verbatim Director of Marketing for SmartDisk products. “SmartDisk’s advanced technologies are ideal complements to the inherent reliability, optimized performance and competitive pricing that resellers and consumers have come to expect from Verbatim brand products.”

Verbatim has enhanced the versatility of its 2.5” SmartDisk HDs by offering them with choice of a USB interface or a Combo USB/FireWire interface. With the Combo USB/FireWire interface, the device also becomes interoperable and files can be transferred between a Mac and a PC. The bus-powered, 5400 RPM drives deliver transfer speeds of up to 480MB per second (MB/sec.) when connected with USB 2.0 and up to 400MB/sec. for FireWire connections without requiring an AC power adapter.

Once the SmartDisk portable HD is connected to a computer, it can be accessed and used like a computer hard drive. Users can drag files to the portable HD’s icon to copy them, navigate to their HD in Open or Save dialog boxes, or delete files stored on the HD.

Verbatim 2.5” SmartDisk Portable HDs support the “Time Machine” backup feature in Mac OS X Leopard. Included in the USB-only models is CMS’ award-winning BounceBack Express backup software, an easy-to-use backup utility that incorporates scheduling, backup sets, automatic launch options and a quick restore feature.

Pricing and Availability

Verbatim 120, 160, 250 and 320GB 2.5” SmartDisk Portable HDs will be available in January 2008 through retailers as well as leading etailers with suggested retail pricing beginning at US$99.00 for the 120GB USB version.

About Verbatim

Verbatim’s businesses in the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific regions are wholly owned subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. MKM’s parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), is Japan's largest chemical company.

Verbatim develops and markets innovative, high-quality products for storing, moving and using digital content. Known for its leadership in the optical, magnetic and flash storage and related accessories markets, the company provides reliable, unique technologies and products that are highly sought after and broadly distributed worldwide. For more information, contact Verbatim Americas, LLC, 1200 W.T. Harris Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28262, [phone]. In Europe, Verbatim Ltd., Prestige House, 23-26 High Street, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9DU, UK, ([phone]. In Japan, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd., 31-19, Shiba 5-Chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0014, ([phone]. Or visit the web site at www.verbatim.com and select the country of your location.

Editor’s Note: For photos and more information on Verbatim’s new 2.5” SmartDisk Portable Hard Drives, contact Andy Marken, Marken Communications, Inc.; [phone] or email [e-mail].

Verbatim is a registered trademark of Verbatim Americas, LLC. Other company and product names contained herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Specifications subject to change without notice.